 Equine Herpes Virus
Dr. Yan Zhang, DVM, PhD, DACVM, ADDL Virology Section Head
The ADDL has confirmed five positive cases of Equine
Herpes Virus 1 (EHV-1) at different locations in Ohio. EHV-1 causes several maladies, including respiratory disease and occasionally neurological
disease known as equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). Clinical signs include
depression, anorexia, nasal discharges and fever. Horses with EHM may show incoordination,
hind limb weakness, paralysis and even death. The disease is spread by horses infected with virus which may or may not show clinical signs. Transmission may occur through direct and indirect
contact. Suspect cases are identified based on history and clinical signs, and diagnosis is
confirmed by laboratory testing. Laboratory tests include virus isolation,
serological assays and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR is currently the
most commonly used method. Nasal swab samples are collected in viral transport
medium and shipped on ice to ADDL. Results will be available within 24 hours
after the samples are received. Please contact the ADDL at 614-728-6220 for
more information.
ADDL Hosts FDA and CDC Outbreak Response Leaders
Dr. Bev Byrum, DVM, PhD, ADDL Laboratory Director
Dr. Renate Reimschuessel, FDA Center of Veterinary Medicine,
Veterinary Investigation Response Network (Vet-LIRN) Program Coordinator and
Dr. Megin Nichols, CDC Enteric Zoonotic Activity Lead, National Center for Emerging
and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Program met with ADDL and Ohio
Department of Health (ODH) lab staff to discuss joint zoonotic investigations
in Ohio and the United States. The ADDL and ODH labs, which are co-located on
the Ohio Department of Agriculture campus, have partnered in multi-state zoonotic
outbreak investigations since 1999. Recent successful joint investigations of Ohio
labs, FDA Vet-LIRN and CDC working together include the Campylobacter jejuni outbreak associated with pet stores, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in raw pet food and Salmonella infantis in dry pet food. The use of next generation
sequencing and the FDA GenomeTrakr network are powerful tools to help state and
federal agencies more quickly identify zoonotic outbreaks associated with food,
feed, animals and people. The ADDL is one of only 13 labs in the world and one
of only 2 veterinary diagnostic labs in the US that are permitted to upload analyzed
data into the NIH NCBI web site. Work is expanding to include the characterization
of antimicrobial resistance patterns among zoonotic pathogens.
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 L to R: Yan Zhang (ADDL Virology Section Head), Melanie Prarat (ADDL Virology Researcher), Jeff Hayes (ADDL Pathology Section Head), Jing Cui (ADDL Bacteriology Section Head), Amber Singh (ODH Public Health Veterinarian), Martha Montgomery (CDC EIS), Renate Reimschuessel (FDA Vet-LIRN), Bev Byrum (ADDL Laboratory Director), Megin Nichols (CDC Enteric Zoonoses Activity Lead), Yamir Rosa (CPL Microbiology Section Head)
 Chronic Wasting Disease Confirmed in Captive White-Tailed Deer
Dr. Jeff Hayes, MS, DVM, ADDL Pathology Section Head
A
white-tailed deer buck at a hunting preserve in Guernsey County became the
third deer to be confirmed positive by the National Veterinary Services
Laboratories (NVSL) for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) through surveillance
testing at the ADDL. The deer was determined to have arrived at the preserve
from a breeding herd in Holmes County the week before it was killed. The Holmes
County herd was depopulated in February 2018 and two additional deer in the
herd of 93 were confirmed by NVSL as being infected with the CWD prion agent,
PrP-res. Animal movements into and from this breeding herd are still under
investigation. The ADDL identified CWD-positive white-tailed deer from two other captive deer premises, one each in 2014 and
2015. ADDL has conducted immunohistochemistry surveillance testing for CWD in
captive and wild deer in Ohio since 2002, examining 2,000-3,000 deer per
year in that time frame. CWD has never been detected in wild white-tailed deer
in Ohio to date.
 Veterinarians Urged to Educate Clients About Taxus Trimming Dangers
Dr. Diane Gerken, DVM, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University
Every year in Ohio, large animals die needlessly from Taxus cuspidata
exposure. Veterinarians have long known
how toxic the plant trimmings are to animals that forage but not all of the
public is aware of this. The most likely
time for people to dispose of their trimmed landscape greenery is in early
spring – March and April so education of the public to the dangers is
appropriate this time of the year. Typically, well meaning individuals
dispose of their trimmings by “throwing them over the fence into the pasture”.
Exposure then occurs. One or two mouthfuls of Taxus trimmings is typically all
that is required to cause cardiac conduction abnormalities so severe that death
occurs within 10-60 minutes after consumption.
Often, Taxus leaflets are still present in the mouth in a
dead animal. Upon necropsy, Taxus plant fragments are found in esophagus, stomach
or gastrointestinal contents sufficiently undigested that the cause of death is
apparent in the field. There is no antidote for the toxic constituents in Taxus
so prevention is important.
Of course, consumption of Taxus by large animals
results in death any time of the year. However, early spring is a more likely
time for this to occur because pastures are not yet lush and
supplement hay is not available- so animals are attracted to the very green
trimmings.
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ADDL Presentation at 2018 Midwest Veterinary Conference
Dr. Jeff Hayes presented an update of
animal disease diagnoses confirmed at the ADDL called, “What’s In Your
Backyard,” covering more than 20 zoonotic diseases diagnosed in various animal
species examined in the Pathology, Bacteriology and Virology Sections (Cases
included Campylobacter jejuni and Brucella canis in dogs; toxoplasmosis
in a kitten and in aborted sheep and goat fetuses; parapox viruses in cattle, sheep and goats; as well as cases of west Nile virus in horses; Ixodes scapularis
ticks in white-tailed deer and a horse; salmonellosis causing diphtheritic
enteritis and meningoencephalitis in a ball python; and tularemia in a gray fox
with concurrent distemper infection.)
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